Protected blade for safety razors



Feb. 4, 1936. F J, LEWANDO 2,029,825

PROTECTED BLADE FOR SAFETY RAZORS Filed Aug. 15, 1933 Patented Feb. 4, 193e Y PROTECTED BLADE FR SAFETY RAZORS Application August 15, 1933, Serial No. 685,236

10 Claims. (Cl. 30-90) This invention relates to safety razors and in one aspect it consists in a safety razor blade having a protective cover of novel form. In another aspect it consists in a safety razor constructed and arranged to receive a blade with protective 'cover and to retract such cover and expose the cutting edge of the blade for shaving.

In the handling of safety razor blades under commercial conditions of distributions and in the more or less casual handling by the user the eX- tremely fine keen edge of the blade is likely to become dulled by being brought into contact with its wrappings or other objects before the blade can be actually clamped in shaving position in the razor. On this account the best and most skillful efforts of the manufacturer in sharpening blades are often brought to naught because of the diiculty of preserving intact the very fragile and delicate structure of a blade which has been brought to the keenest possible shaving edge.

With these conditions in view, an important object of the present invention is to provide for safety razor blades a novel protective cover normally projecting over the cutting edge of the blade and protecting it from direct contact until after the blade has been actually placed in the safety razor by the user and -preferably until the user has begun to clamp the parts of the safety razor in shaving position.

I have discovered that such a protective cover may be made to adhere to one or both surfaces of a safety razor blade in a clinging or slipping manner of engagement and then retracted so as to expose the cutting edge of the blade, without contacting the same, by being drawn inwardly along the surface thereof, as by crimping or molding a portion of the cover into a corrugation which has the effect of reducing the effective width of the cover. Ihave found that suitable engagement of the protective cover and the surface of the blade may be brought about by the employment of a thin layer of grease or oil upon the surface of the blade sufcient to exclude air, at least partially from between the blade and its cover. When so applied the edge of the protective cover may be slipped inwardly without disengaging the cover from the surface of the blade and the degree of engagement willbe suflciently secure to maintain the cover in such retracted position. A further advantage incident to this construction and arrangement is that after the blade has been used and dulled the user may with his lingers restore the protective cover to its original position thereby again guarding the sharpened edgeof the blade and making it safe to be thrown away.

The exact manner of retracting the protective cover is of secondary importance but, as herein shown, the two blade-clamping members of the safety razor, for example, the cap and guard, are provided with co-operating rib and groove adapted to form a longitudinal corrugation in the cover at the time of the blade-clamping operation. I have herein shown a blade internally apertured to receive a rib projecting from one of the blade-clamping members, and when these members are clamped together with a blade between them the protective cover will be molded or crimped by the rib as the latter passes through the aperture of the blade. The protective cover is thus carried into a groove or slot in one of the blade-clamping members and may be utilized in this condition to iill the clearance space between the rib and groove and provide a yielding cushion effective for removing lost motion and vibration from the assembly.

While the protective Vcover may be applied to one surface only of the blade it is advisable, particularly in the case of a double-edged blade, to apply the cover to both surfaces of the blade and under these conditions both layers or plies of the cover may be simultaneously crimped or molded through an aperture provided in the blade for that purpose.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a view in perspective, on an enlarged scale, showing the parts of a safety razor separated from each other, a protected blade being interposed between the guard and cap;

Fig. 2 is a view in cross-section, on astill larger scale, showing the parts of the razor in the condition which they occupy at the beginning of the clamping operation;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the parts of the razor in the position which they occupy when fully clamped in shaving relation and is taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 4 is a View of the safety razor in longitudinal section showing it clamped in condition for shaving.

The blade-clamping members of the razor, as best shown in Fig. l comprise the cap It and the guard i8. The cap is rectangular in outline and provided with a concave blade-shaping face bounded by straight parallel edges. The cap is provided with a central upstanding threaded stem I2 for clamping purposes and with a central longitudinal rib I which extends through the stem I2 and terminates just short of the ends of the cap. A pair of locating studs I5 are set in the upper edge o'f the rib Ill adjacent to the threaded stem I2.

The guard I8 is of the same length as the cap I 0 but somewhat wider and is provided at its longitudinal edges with guard teeth 20 of usual construction. The lower surface of the guard, as seen in Fig. 1, is convex in contour being provided with longitudinal fulcrum shoulders over which the flexible blade is bent by the action of the cap ID. The guard is provided with a centrally disposed rib 22 on its upper face and with a corresponding centrally disposed groove 24 in its lower face. The groove 24 is somewhat greater in width than the rib Iii of the cap, an appreciable clearance being allowed for a purpose which will presently appear. The guard is provided with a central opening 25 of suicient size to receive the stud I2 of the cap with clearance. The rib 22 is cutaway adjacent to the opening 26 to aiford ample clearance for the head of the studs IB, as best shown in Fig. 4.

The handle 3U of the razor is internally threaded to receive the threaded stud I2 of the cap and squared at its ends to bear upon the upper surface of the guard I 8. Accordingly, when the handle 3E) is screwed upon the stem I2 the cap and guard are drawn together with adequate pressure to impart a pronounced transverse curvature to the blade and hold it in such position. From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the design of the cap of the safety razor is substantially that of safety razors known commercially as being of the Gillette type, except for the relationship of the rib and groo've above explained.

The blade 32 may be of anyusual or commercial construction provided that it is internally apertured to receive with clearance the rib I 4 of the cap. The blade is of thin iiexible sheet steel and so thin as to require external support for its cutting edge. It is herein shown as provided with a centrally disposed aperture in the shape of a long slot provided with transverse enlargements at spaced intervals and including a central enlargement for the passage of the threaded stem I2 of the cap. I'n its corners are provided reentrant recesses 35 by which cap corner pressure is obviated. Y

The protective cover of the blade comprises a pair of similar sheets of flexible material, such as paper 36. The sheets 36 are of substantially the same length and slightly wider than the blade 32, so that when laid iiat in registering position with the blade they extend on both sides of its cutting edges and their free edges meet in aline slightly beyond or outside the cutting edges of the blade. The covers may be secured to the opposite surfaces of the blade in a slipping or clinging manner by the interposition of a thin layer of oil or grease or any othersuitable adhesive which will serve to maintain the flexible bond between the two. Each sheet is provided with central end notches 38 which provide in the Vsheet a central zone, later Vto be corrugated not exceeding in its length the length o'f the rib I4 of the cap. Each sheet is further provided with a central opening which is enlarged laterally beyond the diameter of the stud l2 so as to provide clearance in respect thereto, and in each edge of the central recess are formed locating notches 42 by which the covered blade may be properly lo'cated in apreliminary manner in the safety IaZOI.

It will be understood that the blades are equipped with their protective cover immediately after the sharpening operation, so that the sharpened edges thereof are fully protected while the blade is in the process of storage and distribution and up to' the time that the user is actually ready to employ the blade for shaving. When this time comes the protected blade is placed upon the cap I9 and positioned thereon by the engagement of the spaced locating studs I6 with the notches 2 in the spaced covers 36. The guard I8 is then placed upon the blade, as shown in Fig. 2 and the handle 3@ screwed upon the stud I 2 of the cap. Thereupon the guard is forced downwardly toward the cap and in this operation the rib I passes upwardly in respect to the blade into and through the aperture 34 thereof carrying with it, rst the material of the lower cover 35 and then carrying the material of both covers upwardly in the form of a longitudinal corrugation, as shown in Fig. 3. As the clamping operation progresses therefore the two covers are retracted, being drawn inwardly along the surfaces of the blade without contacting its sharp edges and in them is now formed a central longitudinal corrugation which is molded or crimped between the rib It and the walls of the groove 2d in the guard. The effect of this is to part the free edges of the covers, draw them inwardly and expose the sharpened cutting edges of the blade 32. The retracting or crimping movement of the covers is free to continue during the clamping movement and substantially up to' the point of nal clamping. When this is reached the clearance space between the rib I and the walls of the groove 24 is snugly lled by the material of the cover and the whole assembly, including the blade and both of its covers, are clamped securely in shaving position ready for immediate use.

At the conclusion of the shaving operation the parts of the razor may be separated and, unless disturbed, the corrugation molded in the material of the covers will remain, so that it may be again fitted over the rib I4 for a second use of the blade. If the corrugation is in any way disturbed it will be reformed in such second operation. When the' blade becomes dulled and the user is ready to discard it, he may, if desired, straighten the covers 36 with his lingers upon the surface of the blade restoring them exactly to their initial position in which the sharp edges of the blade are again covered and in this condition the blade may be safely thrown away without danger.

It is to be observed that in addition to the protection afforded the sharp cutting edges of the blade the covers 3E also .protect the surfaces of the blade against rusting and are thus useful for the second function.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:-

l. A protected safety razor blade having cutting edges and an internal slot of substantially the same length as said edges, and a uniformly exible protective cover maintained in slipping engagement with the surface of the blade and reduced in a longitudinal median zone to a length not greater than the length of the said slot.

2. A protected safety razor blade having cutting edges and an internal slot, and a protective cover adhering to the surface of the blade and having preformed notches therein registering with a portion of the blade slot for locating the protected blade in a safety razor.

3. A protected safety razor blade having cutting edges and an internal slot, and protective covers adhering to the surface of the blade, extending across the slot and having registering preformed notches therein in alignment with a portion of the blade slot for locating the protected blade in a safety razor.

4. A safety razor having clamping members with co-operating rib and groove, and a blade having an edge-protecting cover in clinging engagement with its surface with a free edge extending outside the blade edge and adapted to be retracted by the action of the rib and groove to expose the sharp edge of the blade without contacting the same, the clamping members acting to clamp the cover in retracted position while positioning the blade for shaving.

5. A safety razor having clamping members with co-operating corrugation-forming elements, and a blade having an edge-protecting cover in clinging engagement with its surface with a free edge extending outside the blade edge and adapted to be retracted by the action of said elements in forming a corrugation therein to expose the sharp edge of the blade, Without contacting the same, said clamping members acting to clamp the cover in condition to maintain the corrugation therein While the blade is positioned for shaving.

6. A safety razor having clamping members with co-operating corrugaton-forming elements, and a blade having an edge-protecting cover in clinging engagement with its surface with a free edge extending outside the blade edge and adapted to be retracted by the action of said elements in forming a corrugation therein to expose the sharp edge of the blade without being brought into contact therewith, said clamping members acting to clamp the cover in retracted position after the corrugation has been formed therein.

'7. A safety razor having clamping members provided respectively With co-operating rib and groove, locating studs projecting above the rib, and an internally apertured blade having a protective cover which spans the aperture of the blade and is provided with locating notches to receive said locating studs.

8. A safety razor having blade clamping members, an apertured blade adapted to be interposed between and clamped by said members and having a protective cover extending for the full length of the edge portions of the blade but being shorter in its central zone than the intermediate portion of the blade, and means registering substantially with an aperture in the blade for forming a coverretracting corrugation in the central zone of the cover when the blade is clamped.

9. As a new article of manufacture, an apertured safety razor blade having a protective cover yieldingly attached to both surfaces, normally projecting above and below the cutting edge of the blade, having free edges superposed beyond the cutting edge of the blade and being adapted to be simultaneously corrugated in a location registering with the blade aperture and thus retracted to expose said cutting edge without contacting the same.

10. A safety razor having a blade clamping member with a rib, a clamping member with a groove of greater Width than the rib, and an apertured blade having a protective cover clinging to each surface with a free edge extending beyond the cutting edge of the blade and having an intermediate portion of reduced width, and means for clamping said members together so that the rib projects through the aperture of the blade and carries the reduced portion of the covers, in double ply, into the groove, thereby retracting said free edges rst toward and then inside the line o! the cutting edge of the blade without making contact with said edge.

FELIX J. LEWANDO. 

